IL Congresswoman Schakowsky calls for U.S. to suspend aid to Honduras

March 12, 2012

Since democratically-elected former president Jose Manuel Zelaya was deposed by a coup in 2009, human rights in Honduras have deteriorated. The country is now the murder capital of the world. Journalists, peasant farmers, LGBT activists and those opposed to current President Porfirio Lobo have been harassed and killed. The perpetrators, often members of the police force and military, largely operate with impunity.

Shortly after the coup, Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky went to Honduras and met with human rights victims and their families. She has been a vocal critic of U.S. support for the Lobo Administration. Schakowsky talks with Worldview about the human rights situation in Honduras, and the letter she recently initiated which calls for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to suspend all U.S. aid for the police and military in the country.